63-year-old builds workshop to boost employment in Shandong village

A row of gypsum dolls is displayed in Zhang's workshop. [Photo by Zhou Danyang/for chinadaily.com.cn]

In May 2023, 63-year-old Zhang Hengshan established a gypsum doll workshop in Funingjie village, Dawangzhuang town, Laiwu district, Shandong province. The workshop now has over 300 varieties of dolls.

Gypsum dolls are created by pouring gypsum into molds to form various cartoon characters, which are then painted by hand.

When he first started producing gypsum dolls, Zhang faced challenges such as immature technology and poor sales channels. To change this situation, he and his employees studied techniques in Linyi and regularly invited professional teachers to conduct training in the workshop.

This hard work paid off, as the customer base gradually expanded from just a few people to over 150 people in Shandong province.

Zhang also expanded his business by selling products online in other provinces, including Yunnan, Guizhou, and Henan.

"During the Spring Festival holiday this year, deliveries were made until 3 pm on the eve of the festival, and deliveries began again early on the third day of the first lunar month," Zhang said. "At that time, we couldn't keep up with demand. Customers from Tai'an came to pick up their products themselves."

Zhang examines the gypsum dolls in his workshop in Laiwu district. [Photo by Zhou Danyang/for chinadaily.com.cn]

Most of the workers in the workshop are elderly people from surrounding villages and disabled people who are unemployed. "My initial goal in opening the workshop was to provide jobs to villagers who couldn't easily work away from home," Zhang added. (Edited by Yang Yi)